Iodophor compounds are well known germicidal agents comprising the combination of iodine with an organic carrier, particularly povidone, as well as cationic and anionic and nonionic detergents. In 1965 Beller and Hosmer (U.S. Pat. No. 2,706,701) and in 1956 Shelanski (U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,922) disclosed processes for the production of polyvinylpyrrolidoneiodine (PVP-I) by either dry mixing of the PVP and the iodine at 90.degree.-100.degree. C., or by preparing solutions of both resulting in an iodophor with reduced iodine toxicity and without iodine vapor. It was claimed in these patents that stability is reached after the formation of an iodine to iodide ratio of 2:1.
In 1959, Siggia (U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,305) described an improvement in the dry mixing process in which PVP with about 10% of water was used. Cantor et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,407) and Atasoy et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,476) recently reported the use of PVP-iodide in place of PVP for faster dissolution of the iodine in PVP solution or in dry mixing.